disk utility posix error

The disk utility on the re-nstall disk does not work due to a bug. I keep getting ,posix error unable to allocate memory. It will not format, erase or create a partitiion.

Is this the installer dvd that came with your machine?

What is the bug that is keeping disk utility form working?

I've worked on a lot of Macs, and the only times disk utility has failed were the result of a hadware failure - usually a bad hard drive. Bad memory is another common probem. It's also possible that some other hardware has failed, but hd's and memory, again, are the most common.

If you've backed up your data, try erasing the hd (if you haven't already) and then re-install.

If you have enough memory to run the OS with one memory chip removed, try that.

If you have AppleCare, support should walk you through troubleshooting steps. If not, you can try making an appointment at an Apple Store.

There are a lot of elpful folks here as well - if you post what steps you've taken, there's usually someone to help out.

While this error can come from hardware errors there apparently some situations where it isn't. I did a little googling on "disk utility posix error" and turned up the following hit which may work (...or not):

Fix POSIX reports-“the operation couldn’t be completed” error of Mac OSX

While it is not the same error reported by the OP the technique described there might work here.

To summarized what it stated there is a sequence of terminal commands. In this case you would run terminal from the installer dvd.

1. diskutil list to get the diskname. The diskname will be in the form /dev/diskname in the diskutil list output. That same notation is used in the next two steps.

2. diskutil unmount force /dev/diskname to unmount the drive.

3. diskutil zeroDisk /dev/diskname to wipe the disk.

Nothing to loose by trying it. Just make sure you get the right diskname. If there is only one disk that won't be a problem of course.

I was wondering what exactly that "yes" meant.😉 Glad you got it working again.

I have an external Firewire drive that won't mount, so I'm trying to initialize it.

I followed the steps you suggested. Here's the terminal log.

Last login: Fri Jul 6 16:11:42 on console

Macintosh:~ harv$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *320.1 GB disk0

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 193.3 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

/dev/disk1

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk1

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS Bay 3 HPFS+ 499.8 GB disk1s2

/dev/disk2

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk2

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk2s1

2: Apple_HFS Bay 2 HPFS+ 499.8 GB disk2s2

/dev/disk3

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk3

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk3s1

2: Apple_HFS External 2 999.9 GB disk3s2

/dev/disk4

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk4

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk4s1

2: Apple_HFS TM-2011-3 2.0 TB disk4s2

/dev/disk5

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk5

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk5s1

2: Apple_HFS 999.9 GB disk5s2

Macintosh:~ harv$ diskutil zeroDisk /dev/disk5s2

Started erase on disk5s2

Error: -69759: Securely erasing data to prevent recovery failed

Underlying error: 16: POSIX reports: Resource busy

Macintosh:~ harv$

How do I find out what "resource" is busy? Is it the drive?

Thanks,

Harv